The Challenges of IR4.0 in an Islamic System of Governance

Technological advancements brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a testimony of human achievement and progress. Advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation and many more holds great promise of creating opportunities for many and access to knowledge. These technological innovations will revolutionise the nature of economic development, the rate of industrialisation, the methods of production processes and enhance living standards in Muslim countries as well. However, as various writers and scholars, as well as, world leaders have pointed out, this globalisation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution appears destined to bring many challenges, transformations, and even instabilities for societies and governments all over the world, including Muslim ones, in particular, affecting Muslim cultural, religious and political aspects of life. These challenges offer a very delicate future situation for Muslim societies and governments and calls for well-planned preparations without comprising the basic tenants of Islam. This descriptive and conceptual study is an academic and scholarly effort, which intends to highlight and analyse issues germinating from the interaction of Muslim societies and governments with emerging technological change, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, riding on the ongoing wave of globalisation.